World Bank2012-06-152012-06-152006-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8160The Croatian economy has performed moderately well in the past decade, enabling a gradual narrowing of the income gap with the European Union (EU). Using a cost-of-basic-needs poverty line, poverty in Croatia is found to be low, with only a small proportion of the poor facing hard-core deprivation. Looking ahead, the task of faster external income convergence with the EU will be challenging, and will require both faster job creation as well as flexibility in the allocation of jobs and workers in the economy. These will also help with more rapid improvement in living conditions in lagging regions. To these ends, the report highlights three sets of interrelated policy challenges and priorities: (1) sustaining high rates of growth to permit continued income convergence with Europe; (2) promoting greater labor mobility, including measures aimed at building human capital to improve workers' opportunities; and (3) improving the adequacy and effectiveness of social safety nets within a responsible fiscal framework. In examining regional disparities, several development indicators show that regional disparities in living conditions are significant (though on average no higher than in EU countries), and only partially explained by human capital and other such individual attributes. Building on local comparative advantages offers the best way forward to improve living conditions in lagging regions.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE POVERTYABSOLUTE POVERTY LINEACCESS TO SERVICESACCOUNTINGACTIVE LABORACTIVE LABOR MARKETACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMADMINISTRATIVE REGIONSAGE GROUPBORROWINGCALORIE INTAKECENTRAL REGIONCENTRAL REGIONSCHANGES IN POVERTYCHILD ALLOWANCESCHILD MORTALITYCHILD MORTALITY RATESCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONSUMPTION BASKETCORRELATES OF POVERTYCREDIT MARKETSDECLINE IN POVERTYDETERMINANTS OF POVERTYEARNINGECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC RECOVERYECONOMIC VULNERABILITYECONOMICALLY DEPRESSED REGIONSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL LEVELEDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONSELDERLY PEOPLEEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENT CREATIONEMPLOYMENT INCOMEEMPLOYMENT PATTERNSEMPLOYMENT RATEEMPLOYMENT SERVICESEMPLOYMENT STATUSEMPLOYMENT SUBSIDIESESTIMATES OF POVERTYFARMERSFEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDSFOOD BASKETFOOD BUNDLEFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD EXPENDITURESFOOD ITEMSFOOD NEEDSFOOD POVERTYFOOD POVERTY LINEFOOD PRICESGEOGRAPHIC REGIONSHEALTH INSURANCEHOUSEHOLD BUDGETHOUSEHOLD HEADHOUSEHOLD HEADSHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSINGHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN CAPITAL ENDOWMENTSILLITERACYINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCIDENCE OF POVERTY AMONG HOUSEHOLDSINCOMEINCOME FLUCTUATIONSINCOME GAPINCOME GROWTHINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME POVERTYINCOME REGIONSINCOME TRANSFERSINEQUALITYINTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINEINTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINESJOB CREATIONJOB DESTRUCTIONJOBSLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR FORCE POPULATIONLABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR MARKET INDICATORSLABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONSLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKET PARTICIPANTSLABOR MARKET PERFORMANCELABOR MOBILITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR UTILIZATIONLAGGING REGIONSLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL INFRASTRUCTURELONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENTMALNUTRITIONMOBILITY OF LABORMONETARY POLICYMOUNTAINOUS REGIONSNATIONAL POVERTYNATIONAL POVERTY LINEPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPOORPOOR BENEFICIARIESPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR REGIONSPOORER REGIONSPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY COMPARISONSPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY GAP INDEXPOVERTY HEADCOUNT RATEPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY INCIDENCE ACROSS REGIONSPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY PROFILEPOVERTY RANKINGSPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY RISKPRIVATE FIRMSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR WORKERSPRIVATE TRANSFERSPRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIESPUBLIC SECTOR JOBSREAL INCOMEREAL WAGESREGIONAL ACCOUNTSREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGYREGIONAL DIFFERENCESREGIONAL DISPARITIESREGIONAL EQUITYREGIONAL GOVERNMENTREGIONAL INCOMEREGIONAL INEQUALITIESREGIONAL INEQUALITYREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL OPERATIONSREGIONAL PATTERNREGIONAL POVERTYREGIONAL STUDYREGIONAL TRENDSREGIONAL VARIATIONRETIREMENTRURALRURAL AREASRURAL COUNTERPARTSRURAL HOUSEHOLDSSAFETYSAFETY NETSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAVINGSSCHOOLINGSELF EMPLOYMENTSELF-EMPLOYMENTSELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOMESOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL BENEFITSSOCIAL INCLUSIONSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SAFETY NETSSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL SPENDINGSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESSTRUCTURAL REFORMSTARGETINGTOTAL EMPLOYMENTTOTAL POVERTYTOTAL POVERTY LINETRANSFER PROGRAMSUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESWAGE BILLWAGE DIFFERENTIALWAGE POLICYWAGE PREMIUMSWARWELFARE INDICATORSWELFARE LEVELWELFARE MEASUREWELFARE MEASURESWORKERWORKER PRODUCTIVITYWORKERSYOUNG WORKERSWorld Bank10.1596/8160